Town Square

No-Name Neighborhood Zones in Mountain View?

Original post made
by Margaret, Jackson Park,
on Jun 29, 2009

I've lived and owned a house in Mountain View for four and a half years now, and every year that the Voice puts out the "Neighborhoods" edition, I look up my neighborhood and see that I reside in a void. Check out this map:

You'll see that there are lots of nice big patches of color, and then there are the red-haired cousin spaces of white nowhereness. Last year I called up the Voice, was referred to the Palo Alto office, and actually had a long and hope inducing conversation with someone. They would send out a reporter to interview a couple of my older neighbors who built the houses, etc, etc. But alas, here we are and I still don't live anywhere, according to the maps.

I actually live in a great spot which is one block from the train station. But it doesn't deserve a name, apparently. So whenever I comment on a Voice story I click the drop-down list and see my choices: "Old Mountain View"? Sounds nice, but then my heart drops when I remember that I literally live on the wrong side of the tracks. Or the other: "Jackson Park"? But I don't actually live there in those two story houses. I live in a cute little 1950's house which I love.

Anyway, can't we just color those little white areas and give them names?

Margaret from Jackson Park, except I don't live in Jackson Park but actually live in my own neighborhood in Mountain View

Posted by Scott Parsons
a resident of Rex Manor
on Jun 30, 2009 at 11:08 am

Thanks for your post Margaret...I agree with you, There are far too many older neighborhoods in Mountain View that have no associated names. I have lived and owned my home on Spring Street adjacent to Old Middlefield and the 101 south onramp since 1998.

My whole neighborhood and the surrounding other neighborhoods between Rengstorff and Shoreline on both sides of the 101 do not have names. I love my neighborhood and it s too should have a name. I specified Rex Manor because that is the closest to our location.

From the map included in your post, I can see there are a number of neighborhoods like ours that are not included. Many of the homes in my neighborhood were built in the mid-fifties, so it seems odd there wouldn't be an associated name for them.

Can anyone from the City or the MV Voice comment on the best route for us to follow to see what can be done about getting our neighborhoods named? I guess I can just call the City (General Info) and start there!

Posted by Bill L
a resident of Shoreline West
on Jun 30, 2009 at 6:51 pm

Well, I live in a "real" area - at least I think I do, if I magnify the Voice's rinky-dink map, or compare it to a fully-labeled Google map. I'm with you on this, Margaret, I've thought the same thing about the neighborhood map for a while, despite the fact that it seems I do live in a named neighborhood. It took me long enough to even figure that out the first time. Though I've lived in this crazy-quilt Valley for over 25 years, I still can't readily identify streets just by their position on the map. I need labels.

A thought for how to cope with this map until they improve it - we need a term analogous to "Unincorporated Santa Clara County", only in this sense "unincorporated" means not incorporated into (ie. included in) the map. They do offer the choice of "Other", but who wants to be an "other"?

How 'bout some more choices here, MV Voice? Maybe you could just label the unnamed areas A, B, C, ... and then ask readers to name then, and perhaps vote. As a small little local paper you probably could use some story ideas with local interest. And it might bring out little nuggets of local history in the process.

Posted by Catherine
a resident of Jackson Park
on Jul 6, 2009 at 10:28 am

I've always thought the "Neighborhoods" section was mostly a real estate advertising section. No new developments - no name for your neighborhood?

Anyway, we're also on the other side of the tracks from "Old Mountain View" in the Central Expwy-85-Shoreline triangle off of Moffett Blvd.

I don't know what to call us (I love the idea of a contest, Bill!) but I do want the city to know when they do their neighborhood meetings that we have a lot more in common with "Old Mountain View" than we do with the Whisman area. We walk downtown all the time.

Posted by G. B.
a resident of another community
on Jul 9, 2009 at 12:19 pm

(another community: also a resident in a MV-void?)

Is it just me or do the named neighborhood areas generally consist of homes and the voids of apartments and commercial/industrial areas. So, if you rent you are more likely to live in a MV-void. This suggests a disturbing socio-economic disparity and doesn't make MV look very neighborly.

Also, wouldn't neighborhood businesses in an adjacent commercial area benefit by being a part of that neighborhood (enhanced ties, responsibility, communication, etc. with the community)? Some are bounded by large thoroughfares but others could be easily adopted into existing neighborhoods filling out some of the voids and connecting the communities.

To me, that map helps to explain the gentrification of MV over the last 20 years. The off-balance values of Lost Altos, Shallow Alto, and Google have been sneaking into disturb and erode the character of diversity in Mountain View.

Posted by eric
a resident of another community
on Jul 9, 2009 at 12:44 pm

G.B, the real explanation is much less insidious. Most neighborhoods are still referred to by the names created by the original subdivision developer. No tract homes=no name. The neighborhoods that dont follow this rule are the exception (old Mtn View, professorville in Palo Alto, a few others) and their labels usually create themselves

I dont think too many people use these old brands- my friends that live in Waverly Park generally say they live near Huff. People in Cuesta Park tend to say they live near-- not in-- Cuesta Park, or perhaps near Bubb. I'd wager half the people in Rex Manor dont even know thats what their neighborhood is called!